Jump to content
The Official Site of the Vancouver Canucks
Canucks Community

Palestinian Toddler and Family Burned Alive in Suspected "Price Tag" Attack in West Bank


Warhippy

Recommended Posts

http://www.rt.com/news/311216-palestinian-toddler-killed-jewish-attack/

A suspected “price tag,” or retaliation, arson attack by right-wing Jewish settlers killed an 18-month-old Palestinian child in a house in the occupied West Bank and injured several other people, according to Israeli police.

The toddler died in a house fire which broke out in a village of Kafr Duma near the West Bank city of Nablus, Reuters reports.

The victim’s four-year-old brother and both parents were also injured and have been brought to the hospital. The attack took place in the early hours of the morning when the family was fast asleep and could not react immediately.

The information available at this stage suggests that two arsonists broke the windows and threw Molotov cocktails inside two houses, RT’s Paula Slier reports from Tel Aviv. The house inhabited by the injured family was burned out from the inside. The neighboring house was also seriously damaged by fire, but it was luckily empty at the time.

The arsonists left inscriptions on the wall, saying “Long live the Messiah” and “Revenge” on the wall of the house.

The infamous “price tag” tactic is typically used by Jewish extremists attacking Palestinian homes, Christian churches, mosques and government buildings because they believe the Israeli government is not doing enough to support their cause. The price tag attacks also take place in response to Palestinian attacks on Jewish settlements.

"I am in shock from this criminal and terrible act," Aruts Sheva quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying Friday morning. "We are talking about terrorism in every respect."

PM Netanyahu said that the perpetrators of the attack would be brought to book.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has put the blame for the attack on the Israeli government. Abbas said that such incidents would not happen if the Tel Aviv government hadn’t supported the expansion of settlements. He also criticized the international community for its silence, vowing that this incident and other similar ones would be brought before the International Criminal Court.

There are growing concerns on the ground that this attack could spark widespread violence. Hamas has already called on its supporters to make Friday a “day of rage.”

“This attack against civilians is nothing short of a barbaric act of terrorism,” Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Force said. “A comprehensive investigation is under way in order to find the terrorists and bring them to justice.”

He added: “The IDF strongly condemns this deplorable attack and has heightened its efforts in the field to locate those responsible.”

The death of a child will inevitably aggravate Israeli-Palestinian tensions at the time when the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pursues the controversial settlement expansion policy in the occupied territories.

READ MORE: Israel approves building of 300 new ‘illegitimate’ West Bank homes amid demolition protests

Just this Wednesday, Netanyahu approved the construction of 300 new homes in the central West Bank Jewish settlement of Beit El despite international condemnation. US State Department responded by a statement criticizing the “illegitimate” construction.

However, Israeli authorities have, at the same time, disgruntled some of the Jewish settlers in Beit El, as the Supreme Court has ordered that two blocks of houses illegally built on the Palestinian-owned land in the same area be torn down. The demolition sparked fierce resistance, with settlers protesting and clashing with police on Tuesday.

55bb0470c46188c32a8b45e7.jpg
ARCHIVE: Palestinians watch Israeli heavy machinery demolishing apartment blocks in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Beit El near Ramallah July 29, 2015. © Mohamad Torokman / Reuters

Jewish extremists often respond to anti-settler measures with attacks ranging from graffiti and minor vandalism to destruction of property and arson. In June, the Catholic Church of the Multiplication, erected on the spot where Jesus is believed to have performed the Biblical miracle of loaves and fishes, was defaced with Hebrew graffiti and torched. Sixteen Jewish youths visiting the area from the West Bank were detained and questioned in connection with the incident, but later set free.

READ MORE: ​Israel questions, sets free 16 young Jewish settlers after Christian church burned down

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/west-bank-fire-bomb-attack-kills-palestinian-toddler-1.3175040

Suspected Jewish assailants attacked a Palestinian village in the West Bank early Friday and torched two homes, hurling fire bombs inside and setting off a blaze that killed a sleeping toddler and critically wounded his four-year-old brother and parents.

The violence threatened to set off a dangerous escalation and further stir Palestinian fears that Israel allows attacks by militant Jewish settlers in the West Bank to go unpunished, though Israel says it does its best to track down assailants. Palestinian officials blamed Israel for the attack while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident a "terror attack."

According to the Israeli military, the suspects entered the village of Duma, near the city of Nablus, where they set the homes ablaze and scrawled graffiti in Hebrew, including "Long live the Messiah," `'revenge" and "price tag" and then fled the scene.

The slain child was identified as 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh. His 4-year-old brother Ahmad, father Saed and mother Riham were seriously hurt, according to Gassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official from the Nablus area.

Daghlas said Jewish settlers broke the window of a house and flung a fire bomb inside, "causing a quick and huge fire." The Israeli military said three people were critically wounded and one was slightly injured. The critically wounded were taken to Israeli hospitals for treatment, the military said.

Lee Gat, a spokeswoman for Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv, said Riham had life-threatening burns over 90 per cent of her body while her son Ahmad had burns over 60 per cent of his body.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the incident a "war crime" and said it would be part of the Palestinians' case against Israel at the International Criminal Court. Palestinian official Saeb Erekat blamed Israel for the incident, calling it a "brutal assassination"

"This is a direct consequence of decades of impunity given by the Israeli government to settler terrorism," he said. "This is the consequence of a culture of hate funded and incentivized by the Israeli government and the impunity granted by the international community."

Jewish extremists have for years attacked Palestinian property, as well as mosques, churches and even Israeli military bases in opposition to what they see as the Israeli government's favorable policies toward the Palestinians, although it is rare for anyone to be killed in such attacks.

Friday's incident comes after Israel this week demolished homes in a West Bank settlement built without prior authorization. Israel shortly after announced plans for new settler homes in the same settlement and elsewhere.

Critics say police have been slow to apprehend the Jewish assailants and Palestinians say the military has failed to protect them from attacks by militant Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

The attacks, known as "price tag," have been condemned across the Israeli political spectrum.

In the village of Duma, the interior walls of the one-floor home were blackened and still radiated heat as Israeli police surveyed the scene Friday morning. A brown couch was covered in white ash as charred debris lay strewn around the property. A second house nearby, which was empty, was also set on fire.

Inside the torched home, relatives scraped through the ash and soot to salvage any belongings. They found a partly burned picture of the slain child and his bottle, still one-third full of milk.

Mohammed Ibrahim Dawabsheh, a neighbour, said he saw the mother running out of the house on fire and then covered her with a sheet to try to extinguish her flaming body. His son, Ibrahim, said he saw two masked men flee the scene. Another neighbour, Mohammed Dawabsheh, said he tried to push into the blaze to save the child but the flames were too strong.

"I never imagined that this could happen, that someone could come and burn people alive while they are sleeping," said Hassan Dawabsheh, the slain child's uncle. "I don't know what those people were thinking. What do they have inside their hearts and minds?"

The Israeli military said it sent troop reinforcements to the West Bank, fearing the incident could trigger unrest. Hamas, the militant Islamic group that rules Gaza, called for a day of rage over the incident.

Netanyahu condemns 'act of terrorism'

Condemnations came swiftly from Israeli leaders Friday, with Netanyahu issuing a stern statement against the violence.

"I am shocked over this reprehensible and horrific act. This is an act of terrorism in every respect. The State of Israel takes a strong line against terrorism regardless of who the perpetrators are," he said.

Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner called the incident "nothing short of a barbaric act of terrorism."

Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said Israel would not allow "Jewish terrorists" to carry out such acts.

"We will not allow Jewish terrorists to harm the lives of Palestinians in Judea and Samaria," he said in a statement, referring to the West Bank by its biblical name. "We will fight against them firmly and with all means and tools at our disposal."

Meanwhile, Israeli police said they would restrict entrance to Friday prayers at a Jerusalem mosque, permitting only male worshippers over the age of 50. There were no restrictions on women. Police said the decision was not necessarily related to the West Bank incident and comes as police received word that Palestinian youth at the mosque planned to cause disturbances.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm guessing the arsonists didn't realize there was a toddler. I hope I'm right.

I'm guessing it doesn't matter really.

If you willingly harass a family and then willingly tag and burn down their home while you know they are sleeping inside in order to further your own expansion or land grab

The thought of I wonder if a defenseless child is inside is probably not at the forefront of cognitive thinking

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ack. Didn't see the part about the whole family sleeping. Whoops.

Bad move on the Israelis part.

Ah, no worries. First glance it's hard to absorb people can be that evil and self serving.

Bad continued move I agree

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm guessing it doesn't matter really.

If you willingly harass a family and then willingly tag and burn down their home while you know they are sleeping inside in order to further your own expansion or land grab

The thought of I wonder if a defenseless child is inside is probably not at the forefront of cognitive thinking

Way to stretch that one. This wasn't the government nor the military.

Rogue terrorists yes...but I'm sure they didn't do it to grab land.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Way to stretch that one. This wasn't the government nor the military.

Rogue terrorists yes...but I'm sure they didn't do it to grab land.

Actually if you READ the story, the suspects are known as members of settlers groups who willingly terrorize and force out Palestinians in order to increase their own land claims or to settle the land itself permanently.

But then...you did read the story.

Right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually if you READ the story, the suspects are known as members of settlers groups who willingly terrorize and force out Palestinians in order to increase their own land claims or to settle the land itself permanently.

But then...you did read the story.

Right?

"The infamous “price tag” tactic is typically used by Jewish extremists attacking Palestinian homes, Christian churches, mosques and government buildings because they believe the Israeli government is not doing enough to support their cause. The price tag attacks also take place in response to Palestinian attacks on Jewish settlements."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And what about this are you attempting to justify?

Nothing would be justified it would just explain if it was stupid recklessness or purely evil intent. Arson and deliberately murdering people are often seen as different mental levels.

Like road rage is common but most people don't think that the person they are going after may be a panicked parent trying to escape could crash and kill the hidden kid in the backseat. Hell that is why so many people have those baby on board things in the windows as people are more passive and considerate knowing a kid is involved.

Even in screwed up stories it is nice to see the suspect have at least some remorse and humanity as opposed to seeing them as a mindless humanless monster. Makes the world seem a bit scarier imo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"The infamous “price tag” tactic is typically used by Jewish extremists attacking Palestinian homes, Christian churches, mosques and government buildings because they believe the Israeli government is not doing enough to support their cause. The price tag attacks also take place in response to Palestinian attacks on Jewish settlements."

And I'll just put these here

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has put the blame for the attack on the Israeli government. Abbas said that such incidents would not happen if the Tel Aviv government hadn’t supported the expansion of settlements. He also criticized the international community for its silence, vowing that this incident and other similar ones would be brought before the International Criminal Court.

Jewish extremists often respond to anti-settler measures with attacks ranging from graffiti and minor vandalism to destruction of property and arson. In June, the Catholic Church of the Multiplication, erected on the spot where Jesus is believed to have performed the Biblical miracle of loaves and fishes, was defaced with Hebrew graffiti and torched. Sixteen Jewish youths visiting the area from the West Bank were detained and questioned in connection with the incident, but later set free.

The violence threatened to set off a dangerous escalation and further stir Palestinian fears that Israel allows attacks by militant Jewish settlers in the West Bank to go unpunished, though Israel says it does its best to track down assailants

incredible right?

but wait!

Somehow they can find out and take action against this, as per the last quote in the story

Meanwhile, Israeli police said they would restrict entrance to Friday prayers at a Jerusalem mosque, permitting only male worshippers over the age of 50. There were no restrictions on women. Police said the decision was not necessarily related to the West Bank incident and comes as police received word that Palestinian youth at the mosque planned to cause disturbances.

Amazing no? They can find out the detailed plans of some youth and restrict entry to a mosque yet cannot for the life of them find and put an end to these attacks...

Now, you can defend this all you'd like by excusing it as a one off or saying it happens. But until it STOPS happening on such a regular basis and until it starts seeing people jailed for these acts, nobody is going to stop. When only one side gets punished, it's a laugh to defend it as being totally retaliatory. As I have issues believing an 18 month old child and a sick woman are engaged in attacks against Jewish settlers (land thieves)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This group also attacks government buildings...... this is a Jewish terrorist group that's out against everyone.

Plus, this isn't just some one-sided affair.... extremists from both sides are attacking each other.

I'm just wondering how long before this spills over and once again we have yet another Israeli-Palestinian war?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This group also attacks government buildings...... this is a Jewish terrorist group that's out against everyone.

Plus, this isn't just some one-sided affair.... extremists from both sides are attacking each other.

I'm just wondering how long before this spills over and once again we have yet another Israeli-Palestinian war?

^^^^ This.

That's what some people here are missing.

This isn't 1 sided.

Both are to blame.

Also, some are ticked off at the whole mess and have their own plans (note how the key here is they don't care about either side and they want all that land to be Muslim only):

"The flagbearer of Jihad to liberate Jerusalem."

This is how the blurb of "Palestine," a new book, published by Islamic Revolution Editions last week in Tehran, identifies the author.

The author is "Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Husseini Khamenei," the "Supreme Guide" of the Islamic Republic in Iran, a man whose fatwa has been recognized by U.S. President Barack Obama as having the force of law.

Edited by Saeed Solh-Mirzai, the 416-page book has received approval from Khamenei's office and is thus the most authoritative document regarding his position on the issue.

Khamenei makes his position clear from the start: Israel has no right to exist as a state.

He uses three words. One is "nabudi" which means "annihilation". The other is "imha" which means "fading out," and, finally, there is "zaval" meaning "effacement."

1081.jpg

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei (center), is shown meeting in May 2014 with Iran's military chief of staff and the commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. (Image source: IRNA)

Khamenei claims that his strategy for the destruction of Israel is not based on anti-Semitism, which he describes as a European phenomenon.

His position is based on "well-established Islamic principles", he claims.

One such is that a land that falls under Muslim rule, even briefly, can never again be ceded to non-Muslims. What matters in Islam is control of a land's government, even if the majority of inhabitants are non-Muslims. Khomeinists are not alone in this belief.

Dozens of maps circulate in the Muslim world, showing the extent of Muslim territories lost to the infidel that must be recovered. These include large parts of Russia and Europe, almost a third of China, the whole of India and parts of the Philippines and Thailand.

However, according to Khamenei, Israel, which he labels as "adou" and "doshman," meaning "enemy" and "foe," is a special case for three reasons. The first is that it is a loyal "ally of the American Great Satan" and a key element in its "evil scheme" to dominate "the heartland of theUmmah."

The second reason is that Israel has waged war on Muslims on a number of occasions, thus becoming a "hostile infidel" ("kaffir al-harbi").

Finally, Israel is a special case because it occupies Jerusalem, which Khamenei describes as "Islam's third Holy City." He intimates that one of his "most cherished wishes" is to one day pray in Jerusalem.

Khamenei insist that he is not recommending "classical wars" to wipe Israel off the map. Nor does he want to "massacre the Jews." What he recommends is a long period of low-intensity warfare designed to make life unpleasant if not impossible for a majority of Israeli Jews so that they leave the country.

His calculation is based on the assumption that large numbers of Israelis have dual-nationality and would prefer emigration to the United States or Europe to daily threats of death.

Khamenei makes no reference to Iran's nuclear program. But the subtext is that a nuclear-armed Iran would make Israel think twice before trying to counter Khamenei's strategy by taking military action against the Islamic Republic.

In Khamenei's analysis, once the cost of staying in Israel has become too high for many Jews, Western powers, notably the U.S., which has supported the Jewish state for decades, might decide that the cost of doing so is higher than possible benefits.

Thanks to President Obama, the U.S. has already distanced itself from Israel to a degree unimaginable a decade ago.

Khamenei counts on what he sees as "Israel fatigue." The international community would start looking for what he calls "a practical and logical mechanism" to end the old conflict.

Khamenei's "practical and logical mechanism" excludes the two-state formula in any form.

"The solution is a one-state formula," he declares. That state, to be called Palestine, would be under Muslim rule but would allow non-Muslims, including some Israeli Jews who could prove "genuine roots" in the region, to stay as "protected minorities."

Under Khamenei's scheme, Israel plus the West Bank and Gaza would revert to the United Nations' mandate for a brief period during which a referendum would be held to create the new state of Palestine.

All Palestinians and their descendants, wherever they are, would be able to vote, while Jews "who have come from other places" would be excluded.

Khamenei does not mention any figures for possible voters in his dream referendum. But studies by the Foreign Ministry in Tehran suggest that at least eight million Palestinians across the globe would be able to vote, against 2.2 million Jews "acceptable" as future second-class citizens of the new Palestine. Thus, the "Supreme Guide" is certain of the results of his proposed referendum.

He does not make clear whether the Kingdom of Jordan, which is located in 80 percent of historic Palestine, would be included in his one-state scheme. However, a majority of Jordanians, who are of Palestinian extraction, would be able to vote in the referendum and, logically, become citizens of the new Palestine.

Khamenei boasts about the success of his plans to make life impossible for Israelis through terror attacks from Lebanon and Gaza. His latest scheme is to recruit "fighters" in the West Bank to set-up Hezbollah-style units.

"We have intervened in anti-Israel matters, and it brought victory in the 33-day war by Hezbollah against Israel in 2006 and in the 22-day war between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip," he boasts.

Khamenei describes Israel as "a cancerous tumor" whose elimination would mean that "the West's hegemony and threats will be discredited" in the Middle East. In its place, he boasts, "the hegemony of Iran will be promoted."

Khamenei's book also deals with the Holocaust, which he regards either as "a propaganda ploy" or a disputed claim. "If there was such a thing," he writes, "we don't know why it happened and how."

Khamenei has been in contact with professional Holocaust deniers since the 1990s. In 2000, he invited Swiss Holocaust-denier Jürgen Graf to Tehran and received him in private audiences. French Holocaust-denier Roger Garaudy, a Stalinist who converted to Islam, was also feted in Tehran as "Europe's' greatest living philosopher."

It was with Khamenei's support that former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad set up a "Holocaust-research center" led by Muhammad-Ali Ramin, an Iranian functionary with links to German neo-Nazis who also organized annual "End of Israel" seminars.

Despite efforts to disguise his hatred of Israel in Islamic terms, the book makes it clear that Khamenei is more influenced by Western-style anti-Semitism than by classical Islam's checkered relations with Jews.

His argument about territories becoming "irrevocably Islamic" does not wash, if only because of its inconsistency. He has nothing to say about vast chunks of former Islamic territory, including some that belonged to Iran for millennia, now under Russian rule.

Nor is he ready to embark on Jihad to drive the Chinese out of Xinjiang, a Muslim khanate until the late 1940s.

Israel, which in terms of territory accounts for one per cent of Saudi Arabia, is a very small fry.

Khamenei's shedding of tears for "the sufferings of Palestinian Muslims" are also unconvincing. To start with, not all Palestinians are Muslims. And, if it were only Muslim sufferers who deserved sympathy, why doesn't the "Supreme Guide" beat his chest about the Burmese Rohingya and the Chechens massacred and enchained by Vladimir Putin, not to mention Muslims daily killed by fellow-Muslims across the globe?

At no point in these 416 pages does Khamenei even mention the need to take into account the views of either Israelis or Palestinians regarding his miracle recipe. What if Palestinians and Israelis wanted a two-state solution?

What if they chose to sort out their problems through negotiation and compromise rather than the "wiping-off-the-map" scheme of he proposes?

Khamenei reveals his ignorance of Islamic traditions when he designates Jerusalem as "our holy city." As a student of Islamic theology, he should know that "holy city" and "holy land" are Christian concepts that have no place in Islam.

In Islam, the adjective "holy" is reserved only for Allah and cannot apply to anything or anyone else. The Koran itself is labeled "al-Majid" (Glorious) and is not a holy book as is the Bible for the Christians.

The "Supreme Guide" should know that Mecca is designated as "al-Mukarramah" (the Generous) and Medina as "al-Munawwarah" (the Enlightened). Even the Shi'ite shrine cities of Iraq are not labeled "muqqaddas" (holy). Najaf is designated as "al-Ashraf" (the Most Noble) and Karbala as "al-Mualla" (the Sublime).

In the early days of his mission, the Prophet Muhammad toyed with the idea of making Jerusalem the focal point of prayers for Islam. He soon abandoned the idea and adopted his hometown of Mecca, where the black cube (kaabah) had been a magnet for pilgrims for centuries before Islam. For that reason, some classical Muslim writers refer to Jerusalem as "the discarded one" (al-yarmiyah) like a first wife who is replaced by a new favorite. In the 11thcentury, the Shiite Fatimid Caliph, Al-Hakim, even ordered the destruction of "discarded" Jerusalem.

The Israel-Palestine issue is not a religious one. It is a political conflict about territory, borders, sharing of water resources and security. Those who, like Khamenei, try to inject a dose of religious enmity into this already complex cocktail deserve little sympathy.

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6263/khamenei-israel-palestine

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"The infamous “price tag” tactic is typically used by Jewish extremists attacking Palestinian homes, Christian churches, mosques and government buildings because they believe the Israeli government is not doing enough to support their cause. The price tag attacks also take place in response to Palestinian attacks on Jewish settlements."

And what is the proportion of those compared to Jewish Israeli attacks on Palestinians: 1 to 100, 1 to 500? Oh yeah, and who has an army that it uses to attack civilians? Face it man, Israel is in the war crime business: their attempts to play the victim card are a joke.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...